What Records a Bitcoin Mining Site Keeps, and What Each Shows

Why Mining Sites Generate So Many Records

A bitcoin mining site is a building full of computers that report on themselves. Every machine logs its own hashrate, temperatures, fan speeds, and errors. The pool that receives its work keeps its own count. The utility meters the power. On top of that machine data, the people who run the site write tickets, emails, and reports. I come at this subject from operations, and the goal of this post is simple: describe the common record types, where each one comes from, and what each one shows on its own.

Practices differ a lot from site to site. Some operators keep detailed archives for years, while others keep only what their software stores by default. Hosting agreements sometimes address these points and sometimes do not, and record keeping terms come up in hosting contract disputes.

The Common Record Types

• Pool data. A mining pool records the hashrate each worker submits, accepted and rejected shares, and payouts, all with timestamps. Because the pool is a separate company, its data is generated outside the site. Pool dashboards usually show averages over set windows, such as ten minutes, an hour, or a day, so short drops can disappear inside an average.
• Power metering. The utility meter measures what the whole site draws, often in fifteen minute intervals. Some sites also meter below the utility level, per transformer, container, or circuit. Utility data shows the total, and submetering shows where the power went inside the site.
• Temperature and humidity logs. Miners report chip and board temperatures, and many sites log intake air temperature and humidity with separate sensors. Machine readings show how hot the hardware ran. Room or intake sensors show the conditions around it. The two can differ, and sensor placement affects what each reading means. More on this in ASIC Dust, Humidity and Corrosion.
• Maintenance tickets. Many sites use a ticketing system or a spreadsheet to record repairs, part swaps, cleanings, and inspections. A typical entry lists the machine serial number, the date, the work done, and who did it. The level of detail varies widely.
• RMA and repair records. When a machine or part goes back to a manufacturer or repair shop, an RMA (return merchandise authorization) record tracks it. These records can show the reported failure, shipping dates, the repair result, and turnaround time. The manufacturer’s diagnosis and the site’s description of a failure can differ. How miner error logs and RMA records are read in hardware disputes is covered on the ASIC hosting page.
• Change records. Some sites log changes such as firmware updates, pool settings, breaker settings, or rack moves. Firmware history per serial number has become a topic of its own, as the Bitmain hosting lawsuits show. Other sites track changes informally, in chat messages or emails.
• Customer reports and communications. Hosts commonly send customers monthly uptime or hashrate reports, invoices, and notices of outages or curtailment. Customers often have their own view through pool accounts or monitoring dashboards. Error codes from the machines themselves are covered in Antminer Error Codes Explained.

What Each Record Can and Cannot Show

Each record type answers a narrow question. Pool data shows what hashrate reached the pool, but not why a machine stopped. A meter shows power drawn, but not whether the machines drawing it were hashing efficiently. A temperature log shows conditions at the sensor, not at every machine. A maintenance ticket shows what someone wrote down, which depends on the habits and tools of that site.

Because of that, people who review mining operations often lay several sources side by side. A drop in pool hashrate, for example, can be compared with the power data for the same hours, the machine logs, and any notice sent at the time. When the sources line up, the picture is clearer. When they differ, the gap itself becomes something to explain: a clock set to a different time zone, a sensor in an unusual spot, a pool reporting window, or something else.

Reading and explaining these kinds of records is part of my work in crypto expert testimony.